Connect! Grants is our classroom grants program. Connect! Grants support projects that fill educational gaps, promote health and wellness, and reach a wide range of students. Connect! Grants are community driven (meaning they respond to community needs), community funded (meaning they are funded entirely by donations and grants), and community evaluated (meaning funded projects are chosen by a committee of community members).
Connect! Grants are evaluated three times per year, at the end of the first three school quarters (October 26, 2025, January 18, 2026, and March 29, 2026). These grant funds are reimbursable upon receipt of a final report.
NYEF seeks to meet the mental and behavioral health needs of our community through our fiscal sponsorship of Rural Resilience.
Rural Resilience connects rural communities to behavioral and mental health solutions while protecting social well-being and fostering resilience to thrive. We are a grant funded program by the Arthur M. Blank Foundation, North Yellowstone Education Foundation and many more.
Teacher Housing
Gardiner is in the midst of a housing crisis. Affordable housing was identified as the #1 concern for residents through the 2019 Successful Gardiner Campaign. This situation has impacted the Gardiner Public School's ability to hire and retain teachers, who have a starting salary around $42,000. NYEF is working to alleviate this problem through our Teacher Housing Initiative.
In 2020, NYEF purchased a property, a historic building built in 1908 that was once owned by Earl Hall and most recently used as a bed and breakfast, in Gardiner. Thanks to support from the Gardiner Area Resort District and very generous donors, we completed $300k in renovations and are now able to provide subsidized housing for three Gardiner School teachers.
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In 2024 we acquired a two-unit home. There is a two-bedroom, one-bath upstairs and after a remodel, a one-bedroom, one-bath unit downstairs. A special thanks to Park County Community Foundation for making the studio into a beautiful one-beroom unit.
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In September of 2025, we added three, two-bedroom, two-bath units to the Gardiner School property. The addition of these units was possible because of Park County Community Foundation who provided funding for our designs, George L. Ohrstom Jr. Foundation, FourTen Foundation and numerous private donors.
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We continue to partner with other organizations, such as HRDC, to help bring affordable housing options to Gardiner.